matt hogan wrote:I'm thinking of exhaust and leaks from vehicles, neighbors spraying xxx-icide, whatever rain may pick up from a house itself (e.g. asphalt roof).
This has been the main thing stopping me from planting edibles directly around my house.
thanks.
I would not worry about exhaust unless you neighbor leaves the car running for long periods of time if they do then I would build a berm of hedge to help block that from coming over into your house. If you have wind that usually comes from one direction you could use that to help push the exhaust away from your house.
With runoff find the worst areas and dig a ditch to hold the water cover the bottom with rocks and line it with plants that you will not eat, that way you are stopping the flow and using the water but keeping the heavy metals and oil away from the plants that you will be eating.